📚April 2026 recap📚

💛💛💛💛🖤My Love Mix-Up!, Vol. 2 by Wataru Hinekure and Aruko
💛💛💛💛🖤Semantic Error, Vol. 1 by J. Soori and Angy
💛💛💛💛🖤Countdown to Yes by Roji
💛💛💛💛💛Our Dining Table by Mita Ori
💛💛💛💛🖤Minato’s Laundromat, Vol. 2 by Yuzu Tsubaki and Sawa Kanzume
💛💛💛💛🖤SOTUS, Vol. 2 by BitterSweet and Kei Shichiri
💛💛💛💛🖤SOTUS, Vol. 3 by BitterSweet and Kei Shichiri
💛💛💛💛🖤Until I Meet My Husband by Ryousuke Nanasaki and Yoshi Tsukizuki
💛💛💛💛🖤10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
💛💛💛💛🖤Minato’s Laundromat, Vol. 3 by Yuzu Tsubaki and Sawa Kanzume
💛💛💛💛🖤Minato’s Laundromat, Vol. 4 by Yuzu Tsubaki and Sawa Kanzume

I also read the short story 'Chip' by D.A. Xiaolin Spires.

I’ve mostly been reading manga / manhwa volumes so far this year because that’s all the energy my brain has left after university each day. However, I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve been keeping pace with the volumes that I’ve bought so far this year and also slowly chipping away at some of the piles of books from previous years. I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to read this month though, because May is going to be another insane month with my two final essays due and an exam.

I’ve still mostly been watching BL series and falling asleep on the sofa, with the Thai drama ‘Duang with You’ being the absolute stand-out for realistic portrayals of neurodivergence and trauma alongside romance and the most wholesome friendship groups. I also really enjoyed ‘Fourever You Part 2: The Sun from Another Star’.

Family finished watching the anime series ‘Gachiakuta’, and started watching ‘Akane-banashi’.

Songs I’ve been obsessed with recently include ‘Bad Shawty’ by PROXIE, ‘No Roots’ by Alice Merton, ‘I Wear The Crown’ by Liam Geddes, ‘We’re In This Together’ by Nine Inch Nails, and ‘Attention’ by Charlie Puth.

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📚Book Review📚

📖 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

This one has some cracking lines in it, including: “That’s not cooking, it’s desecrating a corpse.”

Northern lads with emotional baggage figuring out how to open up to one another, just the right amount of swearing, complicated family dynamics, a grumpy cat, and a misunderstanding about amnesia.

The story is set in December in the run up to Xmas, so it would make a nice seasonal romance for those who abide by such things. As for me, I enjoyed immersing myself in wintry imagery instead of thinking about how much pollen is in the air right now.

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📚Book Review📚

📖 Our Dining Table by Mita Ori

Absolutely loved this story of found family with a side order of romance. Made me smile multiple times while reading it. Thoroughly recommend.

📖 Minato’s Laundromat, Vol. 2 by Yuzu Tsubaki and Sawa Kanzume

Another cute installment in this age-gap romance (which is thankfully very slow moving). I find the acknowledgement of Minato finding a younger guy attractive - but refusing to act on it - quite realistic, and Shin being so relentless in his pursuit and pouting when he isn't taken seriously makes sense for a teenager.

The lovely Twiglet is of course judging all of our life choices.

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📚Book Review📚

📖 My Love Mix-Up!, Vol. 2 by Wataru Hinekure and Aruko

The chaos continues with Aoki and Ida still confused about their true feelings and unsure of how the other would respond. Hashimoto is the sweetest friend, and Aida continues to try to be helpful while still mostly oblivious. I’ll be honest and say that I think this story works better on the screen in terms of pacing, but it is still a fun read.

📖 Semantic Error, Vol. 1 by J. Soori and Angy

Who puts Comic Sans in rainbow? I do, baby!

Told from the perspective of both Sangwoo and Jaeyoung, this is a college romance with a bit of an enemies to friends to lovers vibe. Love the unlabelled neurodivergent representation here. This is another story where I have already seen the live action adaptation, so I’m sold on the concept from the start.

📖 Countdown to Yes by Roji

Wataru and Minato 💛This is such a lovely one-shot friends to lovers story with a focus on photography and how it can be used to connect to people and express emotions. I watched the live action adaptation of this story very recently, and I think that it was really well done and the performances really enhanced the feelings between the two characters.

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📚March 2026 recap📚

💛💛💛💛🖤BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 1 by Kaori Tsurutani
💛💛💛💛🖤SOTUS, Vol. 1 by BitterSweet and Kei Shichiri
💛💛💛💛🖤Minato’s Laundromat, Vol. 1 by Yuzu Tsubaki and Sawa Kanzume
💛💛💛💛🖤Cat + Gamer, Vol. 4 by Wataru Nadatani

I also read the short story ‘Symbiosis’ by D.A. Xiaolin Spires.

I was able to pick up an Illumicrate edition of ‘A Closed and Common Orbit’ by Becky Chambers from their vault sale using book money that my Mum gave me (I used the rest to buy T-pop songs). This was the first book that I ever read by this author, and still my favourite.

The last few months of my first year of university are brutal since everything has ramped up and I’ve got competing deadlines. There is a huge difference in how much work is required and how much time it is taking, and I’m struggling a bit with trying to manage everything. Also, the timing of when assignments are due basically means that the “breaks” are a lie.

Husband and have watched a couple of episodes of the second season of ‘Andor’. I’ve mostly been watching BL series and falling asleep on the sofa, though I did also watch ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ and found it to be excellent.

Family finished watching ‘Starfleet Academy’, the second season of the live action adaptation of ‘One Piece’, and the anime series ‘Tamon's B-Side’. We’ve been continuing to watch ‘Gachiakuta’.

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📚Book Review📚

📖 BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 1 by Kaori Tsurutani

A bit slow moving, but still a lovely story about two lonely people at different stages of life who are drawn together by a mutual interest in BL stories. My Nan introduced me to romance stories, so I really like the portrayal of the age gap between the protagonists and the ways in which they are able to relate to one another while still feeling a bit awkward about how to approach such a friendship. I hope to continue this series as soon as I’m able to find a copy of the second volume for a reasonable price.

📖 SOTUS, Vol. 1 by BitterSweet and Kei Shichiri

The live action adaptation of SOTUS was, I'm fairly certain, the first Thai BL series that I ever watched - so it holds a fair amount of nostalgia for me. Classic university setting with engineering students. I was really happy to be able to get my hands on a manga version (based on the original novel by BitterSweet). I'm looking forward to reading the next volume (as soon as my book budget allows).

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📚July 2025 recap📚

I read a total of five books in July, two of which were manga volumes, one translated work, one ebook, and one library loan.

💛💛💛💛🖤- Elizabeth and her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim
💛💛💛💛💛- The Moon on a Rainy Night, Volume 1 by Kuzushiro
💛💛💛🖤🖤- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
💛💛💛🖤🖤- Nana, Volume 1 by Ai Yazawa
💛💛💛💛🖤- The Sirens by Emilia Hart

In addition, I read the short stories ‘Home’ and ‘The Flowering’ by Soyeon Jeong, and the novelette ‘Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy’ by Martha Wells.

Husband and I finished the first season of ‘Murderbot’ and started watching the new seasons of ‘Foundation’ and ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. I binge-watched ‘Too Much’, and two Japanese BL series: ‘When It Rains, It Pours’, and ‘Love is a Poison’.

Family finished watching the currently available episodes of ‘The Apothecary Diaries’, and rewatched ‘Murderbot’ with our Teen, as well as ‘Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai’ (which I personally refer to as ‘Adolescence Syndrome’, that being the central concept). We also started watching the current seasons of ‘Sakamoto Days’ and ‘Kaiju No. 8’.

Twiglet has been very adorable and spent a lot of time snuggling with me in the mornings since I don’t have to get up so early and can do a bit of bed rotting.

#reading #manga #bookishcommunity #bookishcommunityuk #readingbuddy

📚Book Review📚

‘Cat + Gamer, Volume 1’ by Wataru Nadatani

I bought this manga volume because it was featured in a BookTube video by ‘Gavin Reads It All’ and I have a particular soft spot for black and white cats. This is such a gentle and wholesome story of an inexperienced cat butler learning the ropes whilst trying to balance her new duties with work and her existing gaming hobby. There are snippets from the cat’s point of view as well (adorable). Has a similar vibe to ‘My Roommate is a Cat’ (which I haven’t read but loved the anime adaptation of). Will definitely be continuing this series.

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